Dracula (1931) Review - Dylan McCully

Written by Dylan McCully, 10/21/22

Dylan McCully's Cinema: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls521125877/

Dracula has gone through many iterations throughout history, but none defined the story quite like this one. Bela Lugosi's iconic portayal is immortal, as when anyone mentions the name Dracula, his face will always be the first to pop into your head. Reading about the history and background of the film is surprising, because Universal really didn't want to give the part to Lugosi. Lon Chaney, Paul Muni, Chester Morris, Ian Keith, John Wray, Joseph Schildkraut, Arthur Edmund Carewe, William Courtenay, John Carradine, Conrad Veidt, Lew Ayres, Robert Ames and David Manners were all at one point set to play Dracula before Lugosi was considered. Lugosi played Dracula in the stage version, and was touring in Los Angeles at the time of pre-production. Lugosi fought hard to get the role, even agreeing to get paid significantly less than a lead actor got paid at the time. My review will be abbreviated, as I talked about the story of Dracula in my review of Nosferatu.

The reason I spoke about Lugosi so much is that he's really the only enjoyable part of the movie. Everything else doesn't stand out as too interesting. My problems with the film lie in its ability to stand up to other horror classics. The fact of the matter is, it's not as scary to modern day audiences as it was to audiences in 1931, most of whom never watched a horror movie before Dracula. The version I watched had no soundtrack whatsoever, which also decreased the scare meter. Tod Browning is a director whose filmography I am not one hundred percent familiar with, but I have seen Freaks, which is a fantastic film for it's time. I thought this film could've had more interesting shots, lighting and camera placement because at times it felt like a stage production. Part of this is probably due to the fact that the production was supposedly a mess and that the cinematographer Karl Freund had to direct a lot of scenes. Overall, Dracula still holds up as a legendary film and as a piece of history, but if you are looking for a version that captures the mood of the original novel or just a creepier one in general, check out Murnau's Nosferatu or the spanish production of Dracula that was produced concurrently to this one. 5.5/10

Tod Browning Ranking:

1. Dracula (1931)